Not Applicable
Not Applicable
This invention relates to archery bows. It is specifically directed to an improved bow for youths, intermediates and in general it is ideal for the training of individuals in the art of archery.
Prior to 1967 those people that participated in archery used bows that by today""s standards would be considered as traditional. Traditional bows are those bows that exhibit the characteristic of requiring proportionately more force to displace the bowstring, or draw cable, from the brace position to the full draw position. Some of the bows that would be in this category would be the English Long Bow, the American Indian Flat Bow, the Turkish Recurve bow and the Modem Day Recurve Bows. The force to draw one of these traditional bows is approximated by the following relationship F=kx. Where xe2x80x9cxxe2x80x9d is the displacement of the bow string from the rest position, k is the force required per unit of displacement and xe2x80x9cFxe2x80x9d is the (Draw Weight ) force required to hold the bow string at the displaced distance xe2x80x9cxxe2x80x9d.
These traditional bows in low draw weights were often used to teach archery in public schools, 4H programs, Boy and Girl Scouts and in many Camp programs. Although low draw weight traditional bows could be used by a number of students of varying stature to learn archery and they could be used recreationally they also posed several problems. They could not be stored in a usable condition. The bows had to be unstrung for storage and then they had to be re-strung or brought to the brace condition prior to the next use. This alone required training and proper supervision to insure personal safety and prevent damage to the equipment. Because of the low poundage desirable for training proper archery form and skills, these bows had limited capability to store energy and therefore their shooting distance or range was also limited. Another draw back of these traditional bows became their cost to manufacture. These traditional bows require a great deal of hand crafting and today""s cost to produce the lighter draw weight training bows can be nearly as great as the cost to produce a high end hunting, or target bow. The higher cost of producing traditional archery equipment has resulted in fewer organizations being able to afford archery-training programs. Then with the advent of the compound bow the general interest in shooting traditional archery equipment has also diminished to where the traditional market is less than 10% of the size of compound bow market.
With the wide acceptance of the compound bow it would seem natural that these would be the bows of choice for today""s archery training programs if indeed a less expensive version could be made. Unfortunately the feature that makes the compound bow desirable to the end consumer also makes it less desirable as a training bow. The compound bow has a leverage lows the archer to store more energy in the bow limbs and requires less force to hold in the fully drawn condition than does the traditional bow. This means that compound bows tend to be draw length specific and each bow is designed to fit a certain draw length archer. In recent years the cam systems used on these bows have been designed to accept different draw length modules which can be interchanged to make a given bow adaptable to different individuals. Still changing these modules requires manipulation of the bow and would require considerable time and equipment to match a group of bows to a group of individuals. Then when a new group is to use these same bows a given number of these bows would have to be reworked again.
This same situation can exist when a bow is purchased for a new archer. With compound bows being draw length specific, each bow has to be matched to its new owner.
In light of the shortcomings described above, the present invention as disclosed herein is directed to a new bow concept that has the benefit of the traditional bow in that it is not draw length specific, is easy for a beginner to use and for a given draw weight this innovative bow design stores more energy than a traditional bow. More specifically, the present invention provide for a compound bow which has a draw force characteristic that rapidly attains a given draw weight within a predetermined amount of bow string displacement, preferably within the first 8 inches or less of string displacement, and then maintains that draw weight or allows that draw weight to increase or decrease at a minimal rate to a final draw length, preferably of 32 inches or less.
The present invention provides bow for the learning archer that requires only the minimum amount of effort to reach their full draw length yet has sufficient energy storage to potentially out perform a traditional bow or compound bow of equivalent peak draw weight.
The inventive bow described herein does not require stringing prior to use or unstringing after use as most traditional bow do. As a result, the present invention is potentially safer to use in a training environment as accidents associated with improperly stringing a bow are substantially less likely to occur with a pre-strung compound bow such as the present invention. In addition, because the present bow is not draw length specific it can be used by virtually anyone and does not require special fitting or modification for different individuals. The draw force characteristic of this bow does not require the user to apply continually more force to draw the bow and then suddenly relax this requirement which can result in startling a novice archer and potentially result in their loosing the bow string prematurely.
The present invention provides or a bow that is easy to set up for a novice archer and does not require continuous maintenance or special tuning or timing to keep it in suitable condition for use.
In addition to the features described above, the present invention has an additional benefit of looking like a state of the art compound bow and can be manufactured using the same procedures used to make other compound bows. By looking like any other compound bow the bow will be more acceptable to beginning archers. Many of the people in this category will be youths and even though the subject bow has different and specific characteristics compared to a conventional compound bow it will appear to function like a standard compound bow under the circumstances that it is intended to be used.
The present invention includes aid is further directed to a number of different improvements and embodiments.
It is the object of at least one embodiment to provide an archery bow as described herein that can be easily drawn and shot by a youngster or a novice in the sport.
It is also an object of at least one embodiment to provide a single bow configuration that is suitable for use by a wide variety of potential participants of different ages, sex, stature, and physical ability.
A further object of at least one embodiment is to provide a bow that does not require as much preparation for use, is simple, user friendly and does not have to be assembled prior to use or disassembled for storage.
Still another object of at least on embodiment is to provide a bow that can be easily drawn and at the same time stores more potential energy than a conventional compound or traditional bow of equal draw length and draw weight.
Yet another object of at least one embodiment is to provide an archery bow that is so easy to use , versatile and cost effective that it is readily accepted by those organizations that have been instrumental in the instruction and promotion of archery such as school systems, 4H, Scouts, camps and other organizations.